“To explore the depths of the sea—earth’s last great frontier—this is our purpose,” Dave said, as they began to rise. “For centuries men have been discovering strange creatures washed up on beaches. They could have come from nowhere save the ocean depths. For many years they have been dragging these depths with nets, to discover, if they could, what lived in these ‘spooky waters’ of dense darkness.”
And now, Johnny thought exultantly, I am having a part in an expedition that may reveal the secrets of these dark depths.
But once again his mind returned to Samatan. This strange person, with his apparent hold on the native crew, was cook for the expedition. And a marvelous cook he was. Johnny had been interested in the strange old man, from the first. He had studied him carefully. And there could be no mistake about it—Samatan was endeavoring to stir the crew to something....
Now the blue-black world about him appeared to be changing color. The blackness was less intense.
“It’s like the coming of dawn,” he said to Dave.
“Yes,” Dave chuckled, “only here we may make our own dawn, slow or fast, as we choose!”
That this was to be rather a fast dawn, Johnny was not long in discovering. But it was fascinating. To pass from inky blackness to dark, deep blue, on into colors that resembled a sunrise, and then to the eternal blue of a bright, tropical day, was an experience not soon to be forgotten. From time to time as they rose, strange denizens of the sea seemed to peer at them. Once a shark shot past, and just before they reached the top, a great turtle swam awkwardly away.
Came the bump—bump of their steel ball as, lifted by the great crane, it landed on the deck. Then, almost before he knew it, Johnny thrust his head into bracing fresh air, to be greeted by a smiling face and to hear a girl’s voice saying:
“Hello, Johnny Thompson! How do you like being down in Davey Jones’ locker?”
After assuring her of his enthusiasm, Johnny hurried to his stateroom. He was wondering whether Doris remembered their “secret” of the night before.